14 dead, tens of thousands evacuated in Vietnam floods

Flooding has killed at least 14 people in Vietnam and forced around 78,000 people to be evacuated from their homes in the centre of the country, officials said on Sunday.

Nghe An province recorded the highest death toll with eight people killed, said Dao Van Long, of the local floods and storm control department, who said more than 800 millimetres (31 inches) of rain had fallen in some places.

"Some areas of our province have been isolated. We have evacuated nearly 10,000 people" he said.

In Ha Tinh province, five deaths had been recorded since Friday, while another two people remained missing, according to a report from the local disaster office.

More than 84,000 houses and thousands of hectares (acres) of crops have been inundated by floods, while over 68,000 people have been evacuated, the report said.

"About 5,000 tonnes or rice are needed for local people" together with medicines and clean water, it added.

A further death was recorded in Hue city.

It is the second deadly flooding to hit the country in a month, after more than 60 people were killed in central Vietnam earlier in October.

The nation is regularly hammered by bad weather and typhoons and tropical storms kill dozens of people each year.

In August at least nine people were killed when Typhoon Mindulle struck the central coast, while in July tropical storm Conson left at least one person dead after killing 68 in the Philippines.